Apparently, three times. 😆😆
Here she is folks, big news! I got everything in there.
Open view… I mean, there was not exactly a lot of extra room, but it worked! And it closed.
I will not list out everything that’s in there, because I have done that before and I think I sort of horrify people with how much stuff I pack. 🤣 Let’s just say, if we end up staying in Denmark for some extra days, I’m covered. 😜
My full luggage set: little carryon + my backpack for under the seat.
I opted to take my Salomon Amphibians for my “tennis shoe” option. I really don’t anticipate wearing them much- mostly just for our Mons Klint/nature day. I had a different pair originally, but these smush down SO small! They also are water shoes (not that I need that here) and are easy to wash or rinse off. Hence good for travel. And they have great tread as a hiking shoe! I love them. And yet really only wear them when we travel!
Ivan and Ethan are bringing our Osprey backpacks, and Asher and I have the little Rockland roller bags.
Hopefully there won’t be a fourth luggage post where I have some issue to report. 😅
Anyway, I worked until 1 today. First though, this morning I had to take Charlie to the boarding place. Sniff sniff!! 😥😥 (They require drop off to take place before 9 am so the dogs can all settle in for the day.)
After work I did the usual rounds of getting final details taken care of. I also quickly did my nails before we left home. As usual, Impress press-on nails. LOVE this neutral set!
And then, because I’m weird, I have to cut them shorter. Lol. (The above is the “short” set!)
Our typical “heading out” shot!! Heading to O’Hare.
I almost don’t want to leave, because it’s suddenly 85 degrees and sunny here and it feels SO GOOD and I sort of wish we were going somewhere tropical now!! Haha. Next time. 😉
And now, waiting at the gate. We got here EXTRA early, which is rare for us, but just worked out this time! Maybe also flying on a Wednesday evening makes a difference. We literally breezed through security with zero wait or even other people! I also had already checked us in online and verified our passports online, so we didn’t even have to stop at a kiosk or the desk for any reason, just straight to the gate. Always nice!
Phew, it’s always so much getting ready for a trip. I don’t know how some people seem so relaxed or able to just pack quick the morning they leave! (Ahem, SHU. 😜)
I was thinking of all the pre-trip stuff we had to deal with this week and/or today. These are all “typical to do” items any time we travel:
- Get Charlie groomed (can’t really go to boarding with long nails and his curly hair would get matted with all the playing!)
- Make sure I had a haircut/color prior (done last week)
- Make sure boys had haircuts if needed (Ivan cut Ethan’s hair last night, Asher got recently. But if we’re traveling, I’d rather they not have overgrown hair!)
- Figure out luggage situation!
- Someone had to cut grass right before trip (Ethan cut yesterday)
- I had to put chemicals in hot tub before trip
- Fridge clean out, throw stuff out that will go bad
- All garbage out of house!
- Walgreens run for replenishing a few toiletries (stopped last night with Asher). Inevitably I always need something.
- Verify and refill any medications if needed pre-travel
- Pack up dog food for Charlie, fill out pre-boarding form
- Laundry before packing
- Travel final details- we just rented a car for one day, airline checkin, etc
- Email clean out/ tie up any loose ends (eg needed to sign Asher up for a swim meet with deadline while we’re gone, etc.)
- Do my nails. (And first, BUY my nails.)
- Pack, of course.
- Figure out who will water my plants. (Turns out SIL is house sitting after all, just not watching Charlie. So that’s good.) But I moved all my potted plants to one area so it’s easier for her to water.
- Get gas in the van before airport drive
- Try and leave the house “picked up”, beds made, dishes done, etc. before we go.
It’s so much!!!! Seriously! Can anyone relate?!
In other news, Asher is now officially done with his freshman year!! Here’s first day vs last day. (Skipping real last day tomorrow so we could hit the road!)
Alright, I think I’m going to go find a cup of tea. In the mood for a warm drink right now.
I haven’t decided yet how much you’ll hear from me this week! I do love blogging in real time- it’s fun to share updates!- but… it also does take up quite a lot of time. This is a shorter trip as is, and I want to just really relax, unwind, and enjoy time with my family. I often tend to blog in the morning on trips, but maybe I want to, I don’t know, just read my book or go get a tea or just… enjoy Copenhagen. 😊
So, TBD!! Maybe a few teaser photo dumps, with full recaps to follow?? Will see!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful that vacation has arrived! Excited. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
So glad the luggage situation is all worked out, and hope you have an incredible time!
You’re also waaaaaay better than some of us on pre-travel stuff! I’ve never considered anyone’s hair before a trip, for instance. You are Ms. Prepared!
Looking forward to the photos!
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As many times as you want! Of course I want a detailed recap of the trip, but more than that I want to hear about luggage!
Yes, it is A LOT to get everyone packed up and to put the house on hold while you’re away. The thing that I am most likely to forget is stopping the mail.
Even Doggo has luggage and a packing list! Her “suitcase” is a plastic tote from the Dollar Store, which came from the “new puppy kit” that the shelter gave us when we adopted her. Her packing list is: food, Greenies, two soft toys, and one chew toy.
Anyway, you got ‘er done and you’re on your way! It’s a tough call because it is fun to blog, but it takes FOREVER and travel days already have so much packed into them.
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Isn’t the week before a trip insane? There’s always so much to do! I feel like it’s such a scramble. Have a great trip! I’m glad you fit all your stuff into your little carryon!
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It is no joke to get ready to go away on vacation. Sometimes I think I’m unnecessarily complicating things but NO. It just is a lot of juggling. Speaking of which, I’m NOT travelling and my plants really need to get watered.
I’m so glad you sorted the luggage and hope everything goes perfectly smoothly with that.
I can’t believe how much kids can change in look and stature during the year. I also can’t believe I’m going to have a high schooler in a few months.
Charlie is so precious; I can see why it was hard to say goodbye.
And those nails are, as my teen would say, Fire! They look fabulous.
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Have a blast! feel free to dump photos if you have time and wanna share, otherwise post-trip recap works well too. I have never been there so want to know more about it.
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Hooray! That’s such a relief to be at the airport gate- you’ve done everything you need to do and can just relax. I hope you have an amazing time and I hope Charlie has fun! Hopefully he’ll be so busy having fun with the other dogs, he won’t have time to miss you.
Looking forward to updates whenever they come!
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Even though I travel quite often and use an apple note packing list, I NEVER pack day of or I really try not to pack day of as it feels too chaotic for me. I usually pack the night before for work travel. For personal travel, sometimes I pack even further in advance when I have a pocket of time, especially when I am packing for a different climate. Like I packed days ahead of our Mexico trip but it was a chaotic time since I had to drive to meet my parents to drop off the boys so I as in the car for about 4.5 hours and got home fairly late and was exhausted.
I am glad the packing situation worked out! I think a combo for the small roller bags and osprey backpacks is great!
And the forecast here is looking pretty awful for the next 7-10 days so I don’t think you will miss much as I imagine this wet weather will impact Madison as well. We have our camping trip next week so I hope the rain only happens at night… otherwise we might shorten our trip or something because sitting in a cabin while it’s pouring rain would NOT be fun with our kids. We were planning to be outdoors swimming and walking the trails and such and will make all our meals over a camp fire… that is not compatible with lots of rain. So send some good weather vibes our way. The boys are so excited so they will be bummed to miss out on camping if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
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Wow, Asher really has grown a lot over the last year. I guess he is in that boy growing stage. I think I am the same height and shoe size now as I was in 9th grade, but when I was 14, my feet seemed huge! I don’t know if I got taller or I just got used to them.
Nice work getting everything in the carry on! I like those Solomons; I wonder if you go on a few mile hike, do they have enough support? I always struggle with support vs. profile/size and usually have to wear a more substantial shoe, but I just wear it on the plane so I don’t have to lug it around.
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